Thursday, October 22, 2009

A 22 year old wheelchair bound dare devil Indian origin woman suffering form cerebral palsy plans to skydive from more than 14,000 feet to raise funds to fight against racism and fascism in the UK,

Rupy Kaur, a disability activist who takes her inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, will undertake the feet on December 6 in Lake District, a picturesque region in northwest of England. She comes from a family of fighters’ of justice.

“Just because you are disabled it does not mean you cannot participate in extreme sports. Obviously, you have got to think about the pros and cons but it should not hold you back,” Kaur was quoted as saying by Messenger.

Stating that she is proud of her Indian origin. Kaur, a psychology graduate of ManchesterUniversity said money raised from the act would go to wards two of Britain’s best known groups campaigning against fascism and racism. Searchlight and Hope Not Hate. Her move comes amid recent violent demonstrations by the racist and anti immigration groups in towns and cities with large non white populations in Britain.

Kaur is particularly critical of the anti immigration British National Party (BNP), which is in the midst of major controversy over a decision by the BBC television to invite its leader to participate in a popular current affairs discussion show called Question Time this week.

“When I first heard of the BNP, I thought nobody would be that stupid as to vote for them. There have been many wars and nobody would want to incite hatred, would they? Te sad fact is there are people who support them,” Kaur said. The BNP has more than 50 elected representatives in local authorities all over Britain and two in the European Parliament.

BNP leader Nick Griffin on Monday claimed that his Question Time invitation marks the BNP’s arrival in the British political system and argued that some Sikhs and Hindus now supported the far right party.

According to him, many ethnic minority Britons agreed with the party’s hard line opposition to immigration.

Griffin contrasted Civically British minority communities who lived here, legally and legitimately, with Islamic colonists who wanted to impose their views on the rest of society.

At the same time, he said BNP’s purpose remained to represent indigenous Brits not including any ethnic minorities. “It is not a matter of racism; it’s a matter of standing up for the indigenous. No one in this country is here for the English, the Scots, the Irish, the Welsh,” he said.